I'm new to snowkiting though have a best bularoo 13m, best waroo pro 9m, and a scout trainer 3m back when I tried to learn kiteboarding. I'll be headed for Utah 2/14-2/21. Advice given to me had been to bring the 13m and ditch the rest.

Problem is, I don't know where I should learn (skyline? strawbs?) nor where I should stay. I've been to kiteutah / utahwindriders but last thing I want to do is blindly hit up a foreign hill with only the aid of a GPS.

Besides, should I really be snowkiting for 7 straight-days non-stop? Seems like there's not much going on around skyline / strawbs... afraid that I'll get bored watching TV at the hotel/motel.

Lastly, where would be a good (read: CHEAP) place to stay? I don't really have $400 bucks to spare so if anyone has an empty couch... I'll buy you dinner!

First, if you are going to be in Utah for 7 days you don't need to choose just one location. Skyline and Strawberry are only about 2.5-3 hours apart. I usually pick to ride Skyline if it is a light wind forecast and Strawberry if it is looking stormy.

Skyline has pretty cheap motels (Skyline Inn and Horseshoe) with wifi, plus the benefit of having a local bar, The Triangle (kiter owned and operated), to hang out at. Strawberry has more expensive accommodations at the Marina or at Daniels Summit, but you could also stay in Heber and save some $$. Sorry, I don't have a couch. I have slept in my car at both locations and had no problem (2 sleeping bags and some warm underlayers).

If you want to learn, I recommend Skyline and a half day lesson with KiteUtah. If you can ride the water, a quick half day lesson is all you need to get riding safely.

You will definitely need a car while you are here. I have always advised kiters to stay near Salt Lake City when they visit Utah. It is a 1.5 hour drive to Skyline and 1 hour 15 minute drive to Strawberry. There are plenty of cheap accommodations in Utah or you might get lucky and find a couch to park on.

As far as wind forecasts go, I do a daily wind forecast on the Utahwindriders site. Both Strawberry and Skyline are appropriate for learning. We rarely fly kites smaller than a 13M on the snow, but there are super windy days and your 9M may be useful on those days.

Average wind speed at Skyline is more like 10 - 15. Strawberry is less than that. Skyline has far more rideable days. I would say that Skyline averages 5 - 6 rideable days a week and Strawberry 2 - 3. The two primary reasons for shutting down the wind are 1. High pressure ridge over the area, which can shut down riding for an extended period of time (thankfully this has not happened this year) 2. Snow days when it is a total whiteout. We hate high pressure, love snow days as the following day is usually a great powder day.

I just spent 3 days kiting with an excellent instructor at Powder Mountain. This is an awesome spot with a large area for snowkiting only (no regular skiiers/boarders allowed). Tons of soft cushy surfy pow, great instruction, tons of other things to do, what more can you ask for. Wind was about 15-20 most of the day and was going 30-40 when the snow cloud fronts would roll in.

As far as the larger kite size, remember that at altitude air is less dense. 20-25 feels more like 15-20. So yeah, bring your largest kite. Also take a snowboarding lesson if you don't know how to snowboard and spend a few days at the mountain snowboarding. It will be a very unfun lesson for you being dragged on your face if you aren't a decent snowboarder. I did it on skis as that's my winter sport and it was a joke easy, send the kite and away I went.

You can stay in Ogden, only 25 mins away, hotels anywhere from $30 to $80 check hotwire.com

Just a reminder from the a UT local, Pow Mtn. is a Private kite spot that is a pay to ride spot. There are a ton of locations that are free in UT and Pow Mtn. is not one of them. As a matter of fact it is the olny spot in the state to charge a fee to kite there. All of the locals bailed on Pow Mtn as soon as it went private, and turned snowkiting into a bizness, at the time it was reciving support from a major kite company, to stand and listen to these to companys arguee over pety issues such as whos name was first on contest sheets or logos was the nail in the coffin for many local kiters, at this tiny little spot.

It is probaly best that it is private also since it only takes a few kites to fill the spot. Reacently Pow Mtn stated they only sell about one snowkite ticket per thousand or so lift tickets. Almost all of the locals wish the spot was never turned into the "money maker" its trying to be. I personally have not been there in years, not even for contest, based soley on the bad Karma it created in our local community.

That said if you want a tiny little kite spot with a ski resort and radio towers down wind of the location and a nice long walk in and walk out as well as a time limit to how loung you can ride and ski patrols that are in charge of the riding area then its the best place. It has truley become it own little kite area, Even the staff is unknown to the local community.

Pow Mtn. is about a hour and 45 minutes from strawberry and almost three hours from skyline as well as about a hour from SLC there ae no other kiteable spot around pow mtn. with out a snowmobile and thoose may have been closed recently.

I have to say that I agree with Billy on most points. I would pay to ride at Powder Mountain if it were a larger riding spot. It is small and you do have to pay to ride there. I don't know how much they are charging currently, but I think it is around $20. It is far too small for an event IMHO.

I haven't been there for a couple years, not because of bad karma, just lack of variety and terrain that can be found at Skyline or Strawberry.

Yup, that sounds about right ,
check out the action in Heber City for places to stay if you are going to strawbs it is between Park City and strawberry and has very cheap hotels it is 25 minutes to strawberry and 15 to Park City. It is a much bigger town then what boarders around skyline andPC offers night skiing if you get skunked during the day and want to make sime turns. If you are going to be in the Pow Mow area make sure you see snowbasin also. It is the hidden Utah resort.

All of the UT kiting is unreal right now!

Oh the access to Pow mow from ogden is about the same as Park City(but not heber city) to strawberry or fairview to skyline. You are looking at about a halfhour drive to every spot from the nearest towns. Ogden is a suburb of SLC, Park City is a resort town, Heber is a small cowboy valley, Fairview is a full middle of nowhere one street UT town with a few hotels n a bar.

I really don't understand how $20 is a lot of money to ride in a spot that has ski patrol. For lesson purposes the spot is really good IMO. Not to mention the snowkite pass allows you to ride the lifts on that part of the mountain (hidden lake express), so I actually get in a bunch of nice powder ski runs before and after my kite session, on the $20 pass. Seems like a pretty damn good deal to me. And if the wind direction is right, you can launch right in the parking lot and land there too.